Take Root Below, Bear Fruit Above
When Truth TV speaks about promoting faith and family values, we do not merely seek to avoid SNVL content, or take the “values” that any other group of people might generate and spice them up with a little bit of Christian entertainment.
Instead, we choose to promote content that communicates the kinds of values that arise from deeper roots. As Isaiah 37:31 says:
“Once more a remnant will take root below and bear fruit above.”
If you’re a Christian parent looking to instill biblical values in your family, let’s explore this powerful verse a little more. Picture a simple diagram of a tree with roots below ground and fruits at the end of its branches above ground. Now imagine the word “values” over the tree’s branches, and you now have roots, values and fruits.
What are roots? They are the truths that God shows us in his Word about himself, about ourselves, about the world, about Jesus. I
What are values? These are ways of life that are important to us because of our beliefs.
What is fruit? These are the opportunities we have to put our values into practice every day.
It may seem obvious, but can you see the clear connection between our roots, values and fruits? Here are six quick examples…
Root: God makes us all in his image.
Value: Social justice.
Fruit: We give dignity to every person, especially those people pushed down by society.
Root: God is Trinity, a community of love between Father, Son and Spirit.
Value: Community.
Fruit: We do life with others, living openly with each other, asking for help rather than going it alone.
Root: God is pure and true.
Value: Integrity.
Fruit: We avoid taking things that are not ours and being dishonest.
Root: Jesus is the Son of God who became one of us.
Value: Humility.
Fruit: Instead of looking for opportunities to impress people we look for opportunities to serve them.
Root: Jesus died on the cross to reconcile us to God.
Value: Reconciliation.
Fruit: Instead of taking revenge, we extend grace and forgive those who hurt us.
Root: Jesus overcame the grave, turning his crucifixion shame into resurrection glory.
Value: Resilience.
Fruit: We trust God to help us overcome discouraging or painful experiences, turning them to our advantage, for his glory.
As Jesus so eloquently points out in John 15, it’s impossible to bear any good fruit without staying connected to him and rooted in his Word.
Similarly, if we cut our values off from our beliefs, they lose their power. People who don’t know Jesus might share the value of humility and reconciliation for example, but our root beliefs takes these values to another level altogether. Not just this, our values are not abstract ideas, but opportunities to live life differently every day.
